Clean out medicine cabinet for 'Take-Back' day

Plenty of Peninsula locations ready to take unwanted prescription drugs

Several law enforcement locations and medical sites on the Peninsula will… (Kenneth Silver, Daily Press )

October 26, 2013

Peninsula law enforcement agencies and several medical sites and pharmacies are offering collection centers for unused, unwanted prescription drugs on Saturday — no questions asked.

Part of the 7th Annual National Take-Back Initiative sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice, collection sites will operate throughout the region between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26.

According to the Food and Drug Administration, accidental exposure to medicine is a major source of unintentional poisonings.

The most recent data shows there were more than 255,000 cases reported to Poison Control Centers in the United States in a single year. Of those cases, 5,000 were children under 6. In a study that looked at accidental exposure for young children, 45 percent cases involved meds stored in child-resistant containers.

Some tips and recommendations from the FDA about Take-Back day:

•Pharmacy and law enforcement take-back programs accept most medicines, according to the Take Back Your Meds website. However some prescription medicines, like certain pain relievers and stimulants, are controlled substances and can only be returned to law enforcement locations.

•The FDA has a list of 35 controlled substances at http://www.fda.gov that should be disposed by flushing to remove all risk from the home. One example is the fentanyl patch, a pain medication delivered through the skin. (Caveat: The FDA continues to encourage manufacturers to develop alternative, safe disposal systems. It also cautions not to flush medication unless disposal instructions specifically instruct you to do so.)

•Some medical wastes, such as sharps and thermometers, should be disposed of with special care. For safe disposal of needles and syringes, ask your pharmacist, contact your local Health Department or call 1-800-RECYCLE (1-800-732-9253). "Take-Back" collection sites will not accept them.

•To dispose of acceptable medicines in your household trash, first mix the medicines (do NOT crush tablets or capsules) with an unpalatable substance, such as kitty litter or used coffee grounds. Then place the mixture in a container, such as a sealable plastic bag, and toss in your household trash.

• Before throwing out empty pill bottle or other empty medicine packaging, remember to scratch out all personal information on the label to make it unreadable.

•Do not give medications to friends. A drug that works for you could be dangerous for someone else.

• For instructions on disposal of inhalers and aerosol products, contact your local trash and recycling facility.

Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters has announced that it has received approval from the Human Milk Banking Association of North America to establish a donor milk bank. (People should not confuse donor milk banks, which are carefully regulated, with breast milk sold over the Internet that has no oversight.) It's anticipated that it will open in the summer of 2014. It will be the first one in Virginia. The bank will provide breast milk to critically ill newborns in the hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit.

On its website, CHKD reports that it has used three donor milk banks from across the country to provide breast milk to babies who weighed less than 3 pounds 5 ounces at birth and were born at less than 30 weeks gestational age. In the past year it has provided 100 babies with donor milk, serving about 10 a day on average. It uses 2,000 ounces of donated milk a month. When its own bank opens, CHKD hopes to recruit local donors. Donors are screened and all donated milk is pasteurized, according to a hospital news release.

Initially, the King's Daughters Donor Milk Bank at CHKD will focus on the development of a donor base and meeting the needs of neonatal intensive care unit patients. After that, it hopes to be able to provide excess to other hospitals in the region and beyond in order to fund its operation.

For more information, go to http://www.CHKD.org/services/milkbank.

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